Meaning
Perfect tenses express that a verb began previously but is still relevant to the pertinent time frame, often through some lingering effect. Continuous (or Progressive) tenses express that a verb is sustained beyond the time frame defined by the context. The Present Perfect Continuous tense, then, is a combination of the two.
The Present Perfect Continuous tense tends to focus more on the duration of the initial verb than Present Perfect, and it also tends to focus more on the aftermath than the Present Continuous or Past Continuous tenses.
A classic example sentence is “I have been running,” perhaps in the context of a marathon. This sentence both (1) states the action that the subject has been doing for what feels like a long time, and (2) reveals the reason for the subject’s current state (such as being sweaty or breathing heavily). The first is a feature of the Continuous Aspect, while the second is a feature of the Perfect Aspect. The two aspects work together in this tense, as they are not mutually exclusive.
Structure
HAVE + ‘been’ + Active Participle
The Present Perfect Continuous tense employs two auxiliary verbs and imposes a special verb form (the Active Participle) on a third verb in that verb chain.
HAVE
First, the verb string needs to have some form of the auxiliary verb HAVE. Since it is a present tense, that form is either ‘have’ or ‘has’. Which one is determined by agreement with the subject, or else by the auxiliary verb that precedes it, as shown in the following examples:
- “I have been practicing all day.” [with 1st-person subject]
- “He has been practicing all day.” [with 3rd-person subject]
- “He should have been practicing all day.” [with modal]
BE
Second comes the auxiliary BE. Since it follows the Perfect HAVE, it must be in the Perfect Participle form. Thus, the Continuous BE will always be in the form of ‘been’ for Present Perfect Continuous tenses, as seen in the examples above.
Active Participle
Third, whichever verb immediately follows the BE auxiliary verb — which in most cases would be the main verb of the clause — should be in the Active Participle form. Verbs in the Active Participle form simply have the -ing ending, as in ‘walking’, ‘singing’, or ‘thinking’.
Structural Variations
Either form of HAVE may be contracted with the subject or other auxiliary verb before it, as in “I‘ve been practicing”, “He‘s been practicing”, and “He should‘ve been practicing”.
In the case of negatives, not is placed after (and sometimes contracted with) whichever auxiliary verb is first in the verb chain. In the case of most interrogatives, the first auxiliary verb in the chain is placed before the subject. For Present Perfect Continuous verbs, the first auxiliary verb is usually either form of HAVE, although it may instead be a modal verb.
Featured Adverbials
Since the Present Perfect Continuous tense often brings attention to the duration of the verb, the specifiers (adverbs, prepositions and determiners) that commonly accompany the tense include: ‘for’, ‘how long’, ‘how many/much’, ‘since’, ‘so far’, and ‘(#) times’.
Usage
Duration
The Present Perfect Continuous is very effective at communicating that an action has a very long duration; the Perfect Aspect reveals that it began in the past, and the Continuous Aspect reinforces the sustained event. There are a couple things to keep in mind regarding duration:
- It’s relative to the context. For instance, ‘all week’ is a pretty short time if the context is a full year, but it’s quite long if the context is just this hour.
- It’s about perception/feeling. How long the action actually takes is less significant. If the speaker feels like it’s been a long time, then that warrants the Present Perfect Continuous.
Incidental Effects
Both the Present Perfect and the Present Perfect Continuous can be used to talk about the effects of a verb. While this is not a strict rule, we are more likely to address ultimate and intentional results with the Present Perfect tense, whereas we address temporary and circumstantial effects with the Present Perfect Continuous tense.
For instance, “Mia has been working in the garage all day,” (Present Perfect Continuous) might explain why Mia was unavailable earlier and tired now. But “Mia has fixed the car,” (Present Perfect) explains that a car which was previously broken is now ready for the road once more.
No Stative Verbs
Since the Present Perfect Continuous is a subset of Continuous tenses, it typically is not used for Stative Verbs. Such verbs include instant actions like ‘hear’ or ‘surprise’; perpetual ideas like ‘have’ or ‘cost’; and linkers like ‘be’ or ‘seem’.
See the Continuous Aspect page or the Stative Verbs page to learn more.
Advanced Concepts
Perfect & Active Participles
The Perfect Participle has an -en/ed ending and communicates an effect or other aftermath of the verb. The Active Participle has an -ing ending and highlights the action of the verb. The Present Perfect Continuous tense is a prime example of how both participles can be used together. You can study the participles to gain a better understanding of this tense, or vice-versa.
More Complex Verb Strings
A Present Perfect Continuous verb is already pretty complex, but consider that it might also be Passive, modal, or both, as in:
- “We have been training for a marathon.”
- “We should have been training for a marathon.” [with modal verb]
- “We have been being trained for a marathon.” [passive]
- “We should have been being trained for a marathon.” [passive with modal verb]
While this looks even more complicated, both the form and the meaning remain consistent with the foundational Present Perfect Continuous tense. Regarding the other features:
- In all cases, some present form of the verb HAVE is in the sentence.
- HAVE is always followed by ‘been’.
- Whichever verb immediately follows ‘been’ is in the Active Participle form. In most cases, this would be the main verb (‘made’). However, in Passive Voice sentences, the subsequent verb is another instance of the auxiliary BE (this one is for Passive, while the first is for Continuous), which then takes on the Active Participle form of ‘being’.
Regarding the specifics of the meaning, it is always in case that train began in the past and continued up until the present moment, and probably that the length of the training is considered to be a long time.
Past Perfect Continuous
The Past Perfect Continuous tense is only slightly different from the Present Perfect Continuous tense. The sole difference is obvious: that the context takes place in the past instead of the present. This should be reflected in the auxiliary verb HAVE, which now takes on the form ‘had’.
“As of last Friday, the team had been running several miles every day for a month to prepare for the marathon.” What happened after Friday? Maybe they took a break, or maybe they finally got to run the actual race they had been preparing for. In any case, the rest of the features hold true:
- The tense emphasizes the duration.
- The tense explains the then-current condition of the team, which is:
- a temporary result of the actions that led up to it, and
- more important (in the speaker’s eyes) than the action that led up to it.
Teaching Tips
Present Perfect + Continuous Aspect
In both form and meaning, the Present Perfect Continuous tense is a merger between the Present Perfect tense and the Continuous Aspect.
Before teaching this tense, review the Present Perfect tense and ask the students what makes it perfect. Review the Present Continuous and/or Past Continuous tenses and ask the students what makes them continuous. Maybe even make a list on the board of the features of perfect and continuous tenses. The Present Perfect Continuous tense, then, should be a combination of these features.
By this approach, students are not learning yet another new tense; instead, they are repurposing concepts that they have learned already.
Perspective
The lines between Present Perfect Continuous and each of its related tenses (Present Perfect, Present Continuous, and Past Continuous) are pretty hazy. In many situations, there are multiple possible tenses may be appropriate for the same verb, and the differences between them might be pretty nuanced.
When we view grammar as a strict set of rules, the application of Present Perfect Continuous might seem a little tricky. Instead, keep in mind that it’s largely about the speaker’s point-of-view and feelings about the situation. If the speaker feels like the duration was long, or they feel the need to call out incidental effects of the verb, or they feel the present conditions are more important than the bulk of the action, then they might choose to use the Present Perfect Continuous.
Insider Access
Visit our How to Teach Present Perfect Continuous page on www.insightstoEnglish.com for a demonstrational video, bonus notes, printouts, a slideshow for your class, practice activities, and more.
Further Reading
Encyclopedia Pages
- the Present Perfect tense
- the Present Continuous tense
- the Past Continuous tense
- Perfect & Active Participles
Insights Articles
Intermediate Topics
CEFR Levels B1-B2: Pre-Intermediate to Upper Intermediate courses
